Case Study

Summary

New York City’s buses carry over 3 million passengers per day, but are the slowest in the United States. Select Bus Service (SBS) is a joint effort of the New York City Department of Transportation and MTA New York City Transit to improve the speed and reliability of the city's bus system by implementing bus rapid transit (BRT) improvements on routes throughout the city. SBS routes include dedicated red painted bus lanes, prepayment fare collection, signal priority for buses, high quality stations, and other approaches to improve bus transit in a cost-effective manner, and make the bus-riding experience more like riding the subway. SBS improves bus speed, bus reliability and passenger comfort and convenience.

New York City’s first SBS line was installed along Fordham Road and Pelham Parkway in the Bronx in June 2008 and led to a 10% increase in corridor ridership, a 20% reduction in travel time and received a 98% approval rating from riders. Following the success in the Bronx, SBS lines were installed in Manhattan along First and Second Avenue in October 2010—where ridership increased 9% and travel time dropped 18%—and along 34th Street in November 2011. Future routes are planned for Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island, as well as other parts of the Bronx and Manhattan.